On 17 July 2018, Europol reported on the Joint Operation “ORION” which was carried out in three operational phases from September 2018 until January 2019. The Joint Operation was conducted by Moldovan and Ukrainian law enforcement agencies, which seized about 300 pieces of small arms, almost 1500 pieces of light weapons, more than 140,000 pieces ammunition and over 200 kg explosives. Furthermore, public awareness campaigns made Moldovan and Ukrainian citizens voluntarily hand over about 2027 light weapons, 54 small arms and 2025 ammunitions with different calibres, as well as 67 pneumatic and gas pistols.

The operation was coordinated by the European Union Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine (EUBAM) in cooperation with Europol and supported by the border agencies from Slovakia, Romania and Poland as well as by Frontex and the Southeast European Law Enforcement Center (SELEC).